I have been a Human Capital Consultant my whole career and as a consultant I am used to putting myself out there to sell work and get the job done. I thought that my outgoing consultant personality would naturally transfer to marketing my book, but it has been harder than I thought. I guess there is a bit more fear of rejection when you are putting your book out there when you have invested your heart and soul into its development. I find that I am struggling with bringing up my book in casual conversation, let alone making it the purpose of my conversation. Fortunately, perseverance is also one of my qualities and I refuse to be controlled by my fear of rejection so I have just been taking a deep breath and thinking “what is the worst that can happen?” and no matter what it is I will survive. The crazy thing is that the worst thing that could happen has not happened, yet. Everyone I have engaged about my book, whether it has been in casual conversation or to identify sells opportunities, have been overwhelmingly supportive and interested in Marco the Little Chef.

It is surprising just how much power there is in asking someone if they are interested in helping you sell and/or build a community of readers for your book. Taking this step proves to me that I can take ownership of my book as a self-published author and I can work to make it a success…one ask at a time.

Do you have trouble engaging others about your book? I would like to here about your experiences talking with others about your book to build your community and sell books joy@joypapini.com